Cosmetic Applicator

ABSTRACT

A cosmetic applicator that includes at least two twisted core brushes. At least one of the two twisted core brushes is curved in at least two planes. The at least two twisted core brushes are connected to each other at least at respective first ends thereof to form a loop.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to provisional application No. 62/305,108, filed Mar. 8, 2016, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an applicator for applying a cosmetic and/or a care product to keratinous fibers, for example, a brush for applying a cosmetic product to eyelashes or eyebrows.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A typical mascara brush is comprised of a core formed from a single metallic wire folded in a generally u-shaped configuration to provide a pair of parallel wire segments. Bristles (also referred to as filaments or fibers), usually comprised of strands of nylon, are disposed between a portion of a length of the wire segments. The wire segments are then twisted, or rotated, about each other to form a helical core (also known as a twisted wire core) which holds the filaments substantially at their midpoints so as to clamp them. In this way, a bristle portion or bristle head is formed with radially extending bristles secured in the twisted wire core in a helical or spiral manner.

Numerous such cosmetic applicators are known that comprise a rectilinear core formed by two twisted-together strands of metal wire holding tufts of bristles between them, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,622 to Gueret, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,425 to Hartel et al.

However, despite variations in the shape and material composition of the individual bristles, wire, and the contour of the brush, the cosmetic applicators of the prior art have been substantially limited in their ability to adapt to different application goals. For example, with a continuous, round cross section, the typical cosmetic applicator brush will normally be evenly loaded with cosmetic about its circumference and will present a substantially identical application surface without regard to the orientation of the brush. With this, the user cannot vary the characteristics of the brush in its application of cosmetic.

It will also be appreciated that a fundamental goal of most cosmetic applicators is to retain an increased volume of cosmetic material to minimize the number of times one must dip the wand into the volume of cosmetic to achieve a given application of makeup. Brushes with round cross sections, although able to retain cosmetic between the individual bristles, provide no location or area in which larger volumes of cosmetic material can be retained within or on a cosmetic brush to enable fewer insertions of the cosmetic brush into the container.

Cosmetic applicators are also known in which the core is curved about an axis. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,894,847 and 5,860,432 disclose brushes that have a non-rectilinear core e.g. that is shaped to match the curve of the eye. U.S. Pat. No. 8,082, 928 discloses a brush having a core that is curved over at least a fraction of its length, the free end of the brush not being in alignment with the axis of the stem.

The twisted wire core may be bent to form a closed loop as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,760 to Dumler et al., incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The purpose of the loop in the brush disclosed in the Dumler et al. reference is to provide a reservoir for retaining and transferring mascara or other pasty product from the mascara container to the eyelashes.

There still exists a need for a cosmetic applicator that provides improved ease-of-use, improved product loading, as well as improved elongation, curving, separation, and penetration of the application members amongst the eyelashes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the foregoing objectives and others, the present disclosure provides a cosmetic applicator for applying cosmetic product that may offer diverse applicator characteristics suited to the performance of specifically different functions in the field of cosmetics or hair care, for example, applying a cosmetic product to the eyelashes and/or eyebrows.

The disclosure aims to propose a cosmetic applicator which makes it possible to keep an optimum load of product after having passed through a wiper of a container.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cosmetic applicator comprising at least two twisted core brushes, and wherein at least one of said two twisted core brushes is curved in at least two planes.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cosmetic applicator comprising at least two twisted core brushes connected to each other at least at a distal portion of the cosmetic applicator, and wherein at least one of said two twisted core brushes is curved in at least two planes.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cosmetic applicator including at least two twisted core brushes connected at least at a distal portion of the cosmetic applicator to form a loop, and wherein at least one of said two twisted core brushes is curved in at least two planes. According to an aspect of present embodiment, the length of one of the two twisted core brushes may be shorter than the other.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cosmetic applicator which comprises a first brush and a second brush that are connected at least at a distal end of the cosmetic applicator to form a loop. The first brush and the second brush both are curved in at least two planes. Further, the first brush includes, for example, a first twisted wire core, having a proximal end and a distal end. The first brush further includes a bristled portion having a helical array bristles retained in the first twisted wire core. Similarly, the second brush comprises a second twisted wire core having a proximal end and a distal end. A helical array of bristles is retained in the second twisted wire core in a bristled portion of the second brush. Each of the first and the second twisted wire cores comprises two or more intertwisted wire sections between which said bristles are held in a known manner.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the loop is formed by placing the first brush and second brush side by side such that distal ends of the cores of the first and the second brushes are connected/coupled and the unbristled portions/proximal ends of the first and the second brushes are affixed/coupled at one end to a stem. The distal ends of the first brush and the second brush may be joined together by any of various methods known in the prior art, such as press-fastening, soldering, welding and thermal press-fastening, gluing and the like.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the stem may be made of plastic material and the proximal ends of the twisted wire cores of the first and second brush may be forced into a housing provided in the stem. Alternately, the stem and the cores may be coupled by any other suitable means and may be made of any appropriate materials. The stem may be secured to a cap (not shown) or may be unitarily formed with the cap.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a cavity is formed between the respective cores of the first and the second brushes by the loop.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, each of the twisted wire cores has a curvature in two planes i.e. curved/bent such that an axis of the core does not lie entirely in any single plane. Preferably, each of the two cores is curved about at least two axes and wherein the at least two axes are not parallel to one another. More preferably, each of the cores is curved to have an outwardly convex curvature that lies in two planes.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, one of the two cores may approximately adapt an S-shape that lies in at least two planes. According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, at least one of the two cores may be formed straight/rectilinear.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the twisted wire cores of both the first and the second brushes are curved to have an outwardly convex curvature that lies in two planes. The proximal portions of each of the two cores may be bent away from a longitudinal axis of the cosmetic applicator.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the proximal portions of each of the two cores may be bent away from each other and the distal portions of each of the two cores may be bent towards each other, joining each other at a distal portion of the cosmetic applicator to form said cavity between the first and second brushes.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the bending axes of the first brush and second brush are substantially opposite relative to each other resulting in formation of the cavity between the two brushes and wherein said cavity act as a reservoir for a product composition and thereby allowing the cosmetic applicator to be used for a relatively longer time.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the cosmetic applicator including the cavity is capable of being loaded with a relatively large supply of product, which may be helpful in putting extra product onto the eyelashes locally, and the outwardly convex portions of the core that may be wiped well to be used for combing and separating the eyelashes when the applicator is used in combination with an optional wiper. The cosmetic applicator of the type described above may make it possible to obtain makeup of very satisfactory quality because the cores are curved and because, when observed from the side in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the stem, it presents a profile that varies on the brush being turned about the axis of the stem.

According to aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity may extend over more than half a length of the brushes of the cosmetic applicator. The size of the cavity may be selected as a function of a quantity of composition that is desired to be retained within the cavity. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity may be occupied at least in part by the bristles extending from said two cores of the cosmetic applicator. In this embodiment, the bristles projecting toward the interior of the cavity do not meet/overlap completely such that a gap between the bristle tips results in an open internal chamber or reservoir. However in alternate embodiments, it is possible that interior bristles meet and/or overlap completely resulting in an internal chamber or reservoir entirely filled with bristles.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the two twisted wire cores may, for example, have a length that is greater than a width of the cavity between the cores. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity may substantially be constant in width over at least half of its own length.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity may be off-centered relative to the longitudinal axis and include a width that varies, passing through a maximum between the two axial ends of the cores.

According to another aspect of present disclosure, the cosmetic applicator includes a shape that is not symmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the cosmetic applicator.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the bristles are plastic fiber bristles but may alternatively also be natural fiber bristles.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, one of the first brush and the second brush may have bristles of different lengths along the respective cores. In a variant embodiment of the cosmetic applicator, same bristle lengths along the cores may be provided.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the first brush and the second brush may have cylindrical bristle envelope shape along the cores of the first brush and the second brush, the envelope surface being defined by a geometrical surface defined by the free ends of the bristles. In other variants (not shown) of the cosmetic applicator, the bristle envelope of the first brush or the second brush, may have the following alternative shapes: cylindrical, barrel-shaped, truncated cone tapering on one or both sides, truncated cone, centrally waisted, centrally waisted with a truncated cone tapering on one or both sides or any other shape known in the art. The first and second brushes may have a shape that is not circularly symmetrical about the respective cores.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the two brushes comprises bristles that differ in at least one of cross-section, length, diameters, hardness, color, texture, or material. The first and second brushes may be identical or may not be identical in at least one of bristle density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material, and bristle hardness. For instance, one of the brushes may have a relatively low density of fibers. The brush with the relatively low density of fibers would apply a rich coat of mascara to the lashes. The brush with a relatively higher density of fibers would comb and separate well the lashes.

The disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, the cores can be curved about more than two axes. In an embodiment, the cores may be curved in an S-shape about two parallel axes and then curved about a third axis that is not parallel to the other two.

Many of the exemplary embodiments described above relate to cosmetic applicators having twisted cores. However, it would not go beyond the ambit of the present disclosure for the applicator to be made by injection molding an applicator, for example, injection molding an applicator with a thermoplastic material.

The cosmetic applicator according to some exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may be used to apply cosmetic products, such as care products, make-up products, dermatological substances, and/or pharmaceutical compositions used for treating and/or changing the appearance of keratinous fibers. However, in its broadest aspects, the present disclosure could be used to apply many other substances.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure and methodology of the present disclosure. Thus, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the examples discussed in the specification. Rather, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front side perspective view of a cosmetic applicator according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the cosmetic applicator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a left side perspective view of the cosmetic applicator of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a right side perspective view of the cosmetic applicator of FIG. 1.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a cosmetic applicator 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The cosmetic applicator 100 may be used for applying a cosmetic or care product that may offer diverse applicator characteristics suited to the performance of specifically different functions in the field of cosmetics or hair care, for example, applying a cosmetic product to the eyelashes and/or eyebrows.

As shown, cosmetic applicator 100 includes at least two twisted core brushes 20, 30 and wherein at least one of said two twisted core brushes 20, 30 is curved in at least two planes.

According to a preferred embodiment, the cosmetic applicator 100 comprises a first brush 20 and a second brush 30 that are connected at least at a distal end 26 of the cosmetic applicator 100 to form a loop 50.

According to present embodiment, the first brush 20 includes, for example, a first twisted wire core 22 having a proximal end 24 attached to a stem 10 and a distal end 26 remote from the stem 10. The first brush 20 further includes a bristled portion having a helical array of bristles 28 retained in the first twisted wire core 22.

Similarly, the second brush 30 comprises a second twisted wire core 32 having a proximal end 34 attached to the stem 10 and a distal end 36 remote from the stem 10. A helical array of bristles 38 is retained in the second twisted wire core 32 in a bristled portion of the second brush 30.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, each of said cores 22, 32 comprises two or more intertwisted wire sections between which said bristles 28, 38 are respectively held in a known manner.

In the present embodiment of the cosmetic applicator 100, the loop 50 is formed by placing the first brush 20 and second brush 30 side by side such that the cores 22, 32 of the mascara brushes 20, 30 are connected/coupled at their respective distal ends 26 and 36, and the proximal ends 24, 34 of the twisted wire core 22, 32 are affixed/coupled to the stem 10. The distal ends 26 and 36 of the first brush 20 and the second brush 30 may be joined together by any of various methods known in the prior art, such as press-fastening, soldering, welding and thermal press-fastening, gluing and the like.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the stem 10 may be made of plastic material and the proximal ends 24, 34 of the twisted wire cores 22, 32 may be forced into a housing provided in the stem 10. Alternately, the stem 10 and the cores 22, 32 may be coupled by any other suitable means and may be made of any appropriate materials. The stem 10 may be secured to a cap (not shown) or may be unitarily formed with the cap that seals the container (not shown) housing the mascara or other cosmetic product.

In the exemplary embodiment, the cosmetic applicator 100 may include a cavity 40 formed by the loop 50 defined by two cores 22, 32.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, one of the two cores 22, 32 approximately adapt an S-shape that lies in at least two planes.

In the exemplary embodiment of the mascara brush shown in the FIGS. 1-4, both the cores 22, 32 are curved. Alternatively, at least one of the two cores 22, 32 may be formed straight/rectilinear.

In the present embodiment of the cosmetic applicator 100, at least one of the twisted wire cores 22, 32 has a curvature in two planes, i.e., curved/bent such that an axis of the core does not lie entirely in any single plane. Preferably, at least one of the cores 22, 32 is curved about at least two axes and wherein the at least two axes are not parallel to one another. More preferably, at least one of the cores 22, 32 is curved to have an outwardly convex curvature that lies in two planes.

In the exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, both the cores 22, 32 are curved to have an outwardly convex curvature that lies in two planes. As seen, the portions of each of the two cores 22, 32 proximal to the stem 10 are bent away from a center axis X-X of the cosmetic applicator 100. Further, the portions of each of the two cores 22, 32 proximal to the stem 10 are bent away from each other and the portions of each of the two cores 22, 32 distal from the stem 10 are bent towards each other, joining each other at a distal end of the cosmetic applicator 100 to form said cavity 40 between the first and second brushes 20, 30. Due to this bending, cores 22, 32 of said brushes 20, 30 comprise an outwardly-convex bend. The bending axes of the first brush 20 and second brush 30 are substantially opposite relative to each other resulting in formation of the cavity 40 between the two brushes 20, 30 and wherein cavity 40 acts as a reservoir for a product composition, thereby allowing the cosmetic applicator 100 to be used for a relatively longer time.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the cosmetic applicator 100 including the cavity 40 is capable of being loaded with a relatively large supply of product, which may be helpful in putting extra product onto the eyelashes locally, and the outwardly convex portions of the cores 22, 32 that may be wiped well to be used for combing and separating the eyelashes when the applicator 100 is used in combination with an optional wiper, typically located in a neck of the container (not shown). The cosmetic applicator 100 of the type described above may make it possible to obtain makeup of very satisfactory quality because the cores 22, 32 are curved and because, when observed from the side in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the stem 10, it presents a profile that varies when the brush being is rotated about the axis of the stem 10.

According to aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity 40 may extend over more than half of the length of the cores 22, 32 of the cosmetic applicator 100. The cavity 40 may be sized as a function of a quantity of the composition that is desired to be retained within the cavity 40. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity 40 may be occupied, at least in part, by the bristles 28, 38 extending from the cores 22, 32 of the cosmetic applicator, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the bristles 28, 38 projecting toward the interior of the cavity 40 do not meet/overlap completely such that a gap between the bristle tips results in an open internal chamber or reservoir. However in alternate embodiments, it is possible that interior bristles 28, 38 meet and/or overlap completely resulting in an internal chamber or reservoir entirely filled with bristles 28, 38.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the two twisted cores 22, 32 may, for example, have a length that is greater than a width of the cavity 40 between the cores 22, 32, as shown in FIG. 1. The cavity 40 may also be substantially constant in width over at least half of the length of the cores 22, 32.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity 40 may be substantially constant in width over at least half of its own length.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity 40 is preferably positioned off-center relative to the longitudinal axis X-X and includes a width that varies, passing through a maximum between the two proximal and distal ends 24, 34, 26, 36 of the cores 22, 32. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cavity 40 may be eye-shaped.

According to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, an axis of the cavity 40 may be aligned with the longitudinal axis X-X.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the first brush 20 preferably crosses under the second brush 30. However, it is equally effective to manufacture the cosmetic applicator 100 such that the first brush 20 crosses over the second brush 30. As seen in FIG. 1, the proximal end 24 of the core 22 is located substantially above the proximal end 34 of the core 32, before they start to separate from each other projecting laterally from the stem until the cores 22, 32 converge toward each other to meet at a distal end of the cosmetic applicator 100 where, the distal end 26 of the core 22 is located substantially below the distal end 36 of the core 30.

According to alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to manufacture the cosmetic applicator 100 such that the brush 20, 30 do not cross over one another.

According to present embodiment, the cosmetic applicator 100 includes a shape that is not symmetrical about the axis X-X of the cosmetic applicator 100.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the bristles 28, 38 are plastic fiber bristles but may alternatively also be natural fiber bristles.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, one of the first brush 20 and the second brush 30 may have bristles 28, 38 of different lengths along the respective cores 22, 33. In a variant embodiment of the cosmetic applicator, same bristle lengths along the cores 22, 32 may be provided.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 to 4, the brushes 20, 30 have cylindrical bristle envelope shape along said cores 22, 32, the envelope surface being defined by a geometrical surface defined by the free ends of the bristles. In other variants (not shown) of the cosmetic applicator 100, the bristle envelope may have the following alternative shapes: cylindrical, barrel-shaped, truncated cone tapering on one or both sides, truncated cone, centrally waisted, centrally waisted with a truncated cone tapering on one or both sides or any other shape known in the art. The brushes 20, 30 may have a shape that is not circularly symmetrical about the respective core 22, 32.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the brushes 20, 30 comprises bristles 28, 38 of at least two different types, wherein the bristles of two different type differs either in one of their cross-sections, length, diameters, hardness, color, texture, or material.

According to an alternate embodiment (not shown) of the present disclosure, the cosmetic applicator 100 may extend along a longitudinal axis X-X that makes a non-zero angle with an longitudinal axis of the stem 10.

In an embodiment of this disclosure, the brushes 20, 30 that make up the cosmetic applicator 100 may be identical. However, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the brushes 20, 30 that make up the cosmetic applicator 100 may not be identical in one of bristles density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material, and bristle hardness. For instance, one of the brushes 20, 30 may have a relatively low density of fibers. The brush with the relatively low density of fibers would apply a rich coat of mascara to the lashes. The brush with a relatively higher density of fibers would comb and separate well the lashes.

According to an aspect of present embodiment, the length of one of the two twisted core brushes 20, 30 may be shorter than the other.

The disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, the cores 22, 32 can be curved about more than two axes. In an embodiment, the core 22, 32 may be curved in an S-shape about two parallel axes and then curved about a third axis that is not parallel to the other two.

The curvature given to the core has been exaggerated in the drawings for greater clarity. The curvature of the core may be more or less than shown in the drawings. The curvature could be different without going beyond the ambit of the present disclosure.

The cosmetic applicator according to some exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may be used to apply cosmetic products, such as care products, make-up products, dermatological substances, and/or pharmaceutical compositions used for treating and/or changing the appearance of keratinous fibers. However, in its broadest aspects, the present disclosure could be used to apply many other substances.

Many of the exemplary embodiments described above relate to cosmetic applicators having twisted cores. However, it would not go beyond the ambit of the present disclosure for the applicator to be made by injection molding an applicator, for example, injection molding a cosmetic applicator with a thermoplastic material.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure and methodology of the present disclosure. Thus, it should be understood that the claims are not limited to the examples discussed in the specification. 

1. A cosmetic applicator for applying a cosmetic product, the cosmetic applicator comprising: a first brush that includes a first helical array of bristles retained in a first twisted wire core; and a second brush that includes a second helical array of bristles retained in a second twisted wire core; the first brush and the second brush are connected at least at respective first ends thereof, and the first brush and the second brush both are curved in at least two planes so as to define at least one cavity therebetween.
 2. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, further comprising a stem, and wherein respective second ends of the first and second brushes are connected to the stem.
 3. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the at least one cavity is off-centered relative to a longitudinal axis of the cosmetic applicator.
 4. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein a length of the at least one cavity is greater than a width of the at least one cavity.
 5. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 4, wherein the width of the cavity varies along the length of the at least one cavity.
 6. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein respective first portions of each of the first twisted wire core and the second twisted wire core are bent away from a longitudinal axis of the cosmetic applicator.
 7. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first helical array of bristles and the second helical array of bristles have at least two different types of bristles.
 8. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 7, wherein the at least two different types of bristles differ in at least one of cross-section, length, diameter, hardness, color, texture and material.
 9. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the first brush and the second brush are identical in at least one of bristles density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material and bristle hardness.
 10. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the first brush and the second brush are not identical in at least one of bristles density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material and bristle hardness.
 11. A cosmetic applicator for applying a cosmetic product, the cosmetic applicator comprising: at least two twisted core brushes; wherein at least one of said two twisted core brushes is curved in at least two planes, and wherein the at least two twisted core brushes are connected to each other to form a loop.
 12. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 11, further comprising a stem, and wherein the at least two twisted core brushes are connected to the stem.
 13. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 11, wherein respective first portions of each of the two twisted core brushes are bent away from a longitudinal axis of the cosmetic applicator.
 14. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 11, wherein the at least two twisted core brushes are identical in at least one of bristles density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material and bristle hardness.
 15. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 11, wherein the two twisted core brushes are not identical in at least one of bristles density, envelope shape, bristle color, bristle material and bristle hardness. 